Foil capsule dispenser



Feb. 12, 1963 F. WHITE 3,077,287

Fon. CAPSULE DISPENSER Filed June 22. 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet i1 /9 ,A FIG. 2 f@ E ag 9 b /7 26 n 20 I g l0 V/////////// r e 2 l 4 j g /3 .1.2

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l NVENTOR FREDERICK WHITE ATORNEYS Filed June 22, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 NvENToR i FREDERICK WHITE FIG. 3 BY:

` ATTORNEYS Feb. 12, 1963 F. WHITE 3,077,287

F611. CAPSULE DISPENSER Filed June 22, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 6

GIEL; A 22 INVENTOR FREDERICK WHITE Feb. 12, 1963 F. wHrrE 3,077,287

Eon. CAPSULE DISPENSER Filed June 22, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 e I INVENTOR FREDERICK wHlTE FIG- 7 E ATTORNEYS Filed .lune 22, 1959, Ser. No. 821,745 2 Claims. (Cl. 2211-210) This invention relates to apparatus for automatically dispensing capsules on to the tops of bottles which are passing along a bottling line. The capsules handled by the apparatus are made of thin foil and cup shaped with a slightly tapered skirt which allows a number to be cupped together. Such capsules are commonly used on wine bottles as a decoration and pilfer proof seal. They are usually made slightly larger than the bottle top over which they tit and when automatically applied by apparatus such as the one about to be described, another separate machine follows on the bottling line to squeeze the capsule into close contact with the bottle.

Capsule dispensing apparatus known to be used at present employs a system of separating the end capsule from a nested stack of capsules by means of air jets which are directed between the end capsule and those remaining. While this is satisfactory if the capsule skirt is sufciently rigid to withstand an air jet without distortion, the method imposes limitations of minimum thickness of foil used in the capsule manufacture. In addition to this, since most capsules are coated on the inside with adhesive, 4air separation sometimes is unsuccessful in separating adjacent capsules which are slightly locked together by the adhesive. A further problem of air separation is that the capsule skirt must be grooved to allow the passage of air between adjacent capsules. All known capsule dispensing equipment is placed adjacent to the bottling line and a trip valve operated by the passing bottle releases each individual capsule while the bottle is in motion.`

The inventive idea incorporated in the present invention shows a way of separating the capsules individually, as they are required, by a mechanical process which does not demand so much stiffness of capsule material as is necessary with other apparatus, neither does not make grooving of the capsule skirt necessary for its functioning. For this reason the present invention .shows how it is possible to dispense capsules made of thinner foil, and therefore cheaper in cost, than could be dispensed by any other existing apparatus.

The accompanying drawings show one embodiment of the invention which employs mechanical separation but uses air for the purpose of obtaining the mechanical movements. In order to make the operation clear, it has been found necessary to show three views of the positions of the mechanism during separation of a capsule.

FIG. 1 shows the mechanism at rest prior to operation.

FIG. 2 represents a cross-sectional view taken along the section line 2-2 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows the capsule release position.

IFIG. 4 represents a cross-sectional view taken along the section line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows the lever accelerated position to clear the capsule path.

FIG. 6 shows a circuit diagram of the air valve connections.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a method of magazine loading which can be employed when high speed operation is desired for fast bottling line speeds.

The sequence of movements can be more easily followed by first examining the circuit diagram in FIG. 4. It `will be seen that there are two basic movements involving air operation, one is the double acting claw movement by cylinder 12 which operates to grip a capsule for ares arent 3,077,287 aten'ted Feb. l2, 1953 a short period then release it, the other is the double acting lever operating cylinder 21 which swings the whole lever and claw mechanism about an arc out of the way of the released capsule before returning to its original position. The air to each of these cylinders is controlled by double solenoid, momentary contact, four way air valves 2S and 29 which in turn are energised through micro switches 23, 24 and 30. When a bottle closes the circuit of microswitch 30, air pressure is transferred by valve 29 through 13 causing claw to move outwards. At the same time valve 28 transfers air pressure to 32 reversing liow in cylinder 21. About the mid stroke position of cylinder 21, micro switch 23 energises valve 29 to reverse flow in cylinder 12 causing claw to retract. At the end of the stroke of cylinder 21 micro switch 24 energises valve 28 to reverse operation of cylinder 21.

Refer now to FIG. 1 which shows a sectional View of the apparatus at rest between capsule deliveries. Outlet 1 of chute 2 is directly above the bottle path. A stack of capsules 3 is loaded into chute 2 and allowed to come to rest on ledge 4 of lever 5. In this position the skirt of the bottom capsule is between abutment 15 of lever 5 and claw 6. An extension 7 on claw 6 contacts the rounded heads of pins 8 compressing springs 16 and spreading check levers 9 away from the capsule stack.. (See section AA.) Lips 17 of levers 9 are free to move in and out of slots 10 in chute 2. The upper surrface of lips 17 are situated slightly higher than ledge' 4 by a distance not greater than the normal separation of the capsules when cupped together. Guide pins 18 serve to locate check levers 9 and hold spring abutments 19t. Support plates 2t) serve to mount the apparatus rigidly in position carrying air cylinder 21, chute support 22, micro switches 23 and 241, lever cam pin 25 and main pivots 26; When a bottle operates micro switch 3d (FIG. 4) compressed air enters through 13 to move plunger 11 in claw cylinder 12 causing claw 6 to grip the bottom capsule against abut ment 15 of lever 5. In so moving", extension '7 of claw 6 releases pins 8 allowing springs 16 to close in check levers 9 and lips 17 contact the botto-rn capsule skirt just below the bottom edge of the lowest but one capsule in the stack. (The position now is as shown in section BB Vof FIG. 2.) As soon as this occurs, air enters 32 to move ram 27 and link 2S causing lever 5, together with the claw cylinder assembly complete, to rotate on pivot 26 separating the bottom capsule asli't moves and leaving the rest of the capsules supported on lips 17. During this initial movement from FIG. 1 position, there is no relative motion between lever 5 and claw cylinder 12 due to the shape of cam track 33 which is on a radius from pivot 26 and restrained by lixed cam pin 25.

At about the mid-stroke position of cylinder 21 as shown in FIG. 2, microswitch 23 is operated by lobe 34 which actuates valve 29 transferring compressed air through 14 to return claw 6 and release the capsule. It will be noted that at this point claw 6 is moving at the same speed as lever 5 and abutment 15 is still inside capsule 42. In order to clear the path of capsule 42 without affecting its continued progress through chute 2 it is necessary to accelerate lever 5 so that it moves ahead of capsule 42. This is done by portion 35 of cam track 33 accelerating its motion away from capsule 42. FIG. 3 shows lever 5 in its lowest position free of the released capsule 42 which continues down the chute to a bottle opposite outlet 1. A slot 37 is cut in chute 2 to allow entrance and exit of lever S. At this point, lobe 34 actuates micro switch 24 to operate valve 2S to return lever 5 to its original position. The exhaust port 33 of valve 28 is connected by pipe 39 to a muif 4G which surrounds chute 2 for the purpose of transferring the exhausted air through holes 41 to speed up the departing capsule towards outlet 1. Claw cylinder 12 and claw 6, together with their associated parts, also return with lever 5 but since claw 6 is retracted, extension 7 will again spread check` levers Si` through contact withl pins 8' causing' the stack of capsules Ito be free to drop on to surface 4 as lever 5 reaches the end of its return stroke. The apv paratus is once again in its original position as shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a method whereby a number of stacks of capsules are made available successively as those capsules in chute 2 of the main lappliance are used up. FIG. 5 shows a sectioned elevation in which chute 2 represents the same part as that shown on FIGS. l, 2 land 3. A cluster of tubes 43 arranged circumferentially around pivot 44 to be at rest when open end of a tube 43 coincides with opening 46 in plate 47 so as to allow a stack of capsules .to fall freely into chute 2. The cluster of tubes 43 is rotated intermittently to keep chute 2 continuously supplied with capsules. When the capsule stack 3 falls below the level of light source 48, a light beam 49 passes through chute 2, which is made of transparent material, to react on light cell 50 and operate photo-electric control 51 which energises solenoid 52 of valve 53. This allows compressed air entering at 54 (FIG. 6) to ilow through pipe 55 into cylinder 56 withdrawing ram 57 and ratchet lever- 58. The latter is pivoted at 59 from plate 47. Pawl 60 is pivoted on the end of ratchet lever 58 and held against ratchet wheel 45 by leaf spring 61. When ram 57 withdraws, bringing ratchet lever 58 with it, pawl 60 moves -around to the next slot in ratchet wheel 45. As soon as ram 57 is completely withdrawn, clevis pin 62 (FIG. 5) strikes roller 63 on micro switch 64 which energises solenoid 65 on valve 53 to reverse air through tube 66 (FIG. 6) returning ram 57 to its original position. In returning, pawl 60 rotates ratchet wheel 45 one tooth, which is equivalent in spacing to the angle between two adjacent tubes 43, so as to bring another stack of capsules in line with chute 2 where they fall to break the light beam 49. This form of magazine loading enables an operator to till up a number of tubes with capsules 65 while the dispenser is in operation.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are dei-ined as follows:

1. An apparatus for dispensing la stack of foil capsules one at =a time comprising a chute, -a lever having a supporting ledge swingably mounted to swing downwardly from a normal position from which it is adapted to `support a stack of capsules in said chute to a release position in which the said lever is free of said chute, a claw on said lever, said lever having :an abutment thereon adapted to enter into the bottom capsule of a stack, said claw being adapted to co-operate with said abutment to grip a capsule at the edge thereof and to move from a normal position out of co-operative engagement with said abutment to an operative position in which it co-operatively engages with said abutment to grip a capsule as aforesaid, operating means for swinging said lever from said normal position to said release position, means operable at the beginning of the movement of said lever for actuating said claw from its normal position to its operative position, check levers having lips for engaging said stack of capsules, said lips being located above the said supporting ledge of said lever when said lever is in a normal position a distance no greater than the separation between adjacent capsules in said stack, said check levers being movable from an inoperative position in which said lips are out of contact with a stack of capsules to 'an operative position in which said lips underlie and are adapted to support said stack of capsules, said claw being adapted to swing 4with said lever during the initial portion of travel of said lever whereby to draw the bottom most capsule from said stack in use, means responsive to the engagement of said claw with said abutment for actuating said check levers to an opera-tive position whereby to cause the lips thereof to underlie the bottom of but one capsule in said stack, means operable after said abutment and claw have initially withdrawn the bottom capsule from said stack in the downwardly swinging movement of said lever for moving said claw to its normal position with respect to said abutment, means operable following disengagement of said claw from said abutmentduring the downward swing of said lever for accelerating the speed of swing of said lever to swing the lever ahead of land clear of a falling capsule previously carried thereby, means for returning said lever to its normal position after a capsule has had an opportunity to fall from the said chute, and means for opera-ting said check levers to their normal position as said lever assumes its normal position.

2. Apparatus for dispensing a stack of foil capsules as claimed in claim l in which said claw is adapted to swing about a fixed axis, said lever being adapted to swing about the same axis as said claw during the initial downward swinging movement when said claw co-operatively engages with the abutment of said lever and in which said means operable following disengagement of said claw from said abutment during the downward swing of said lever for accelerating the speed Yof swing of said lever comprises a fixed cam and a co-operating cam surface on said lever.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,216,417 Cooley Feb. 20, 1917 v2,103,302 Strout Dec. 28, 1937 2,325,164 Godwin July 27, 1943 2,551,476 Vantlander May 1, 1951 2,765,607 Aguillar et al. Oct. 9, 1956 2,960,071 Hawes Sept. 29, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 489,418 Great Britain July 26, 1938 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING A STACK OF FOIL CAPSULES ONE AT A TIME COMPRISING A CHUTE, A LEVER HAVING A SUPPORTING LEDGE SWINGABLY MOUNTED TO SWING DOWNWARDLY FROM A NORMAL POSITION FROM WHICH IT IS ADAPTED TO SUPPORT A STACK OF CAPSULES IN SAID CHUTE TO A RELEASE POSITION IN WHICH THE SAID LEVER IS FREE OF SAID CHUTE, A CLAW ON SAID LEVER, SAID LEVER HAVING AN ABUTMENT THEREON ADAPTED TO ENTER INTO THE BOTTOM CAPSULE OF A STACK, SAID CLAW BEING ADAPTED TO CO-OPERATE WITH SAID ABUTMENT TO GRIP A CAPSULE AT THE EDGE THEREOF AND TO MOVE FROM A NORMAL POSITION OUT OF CO-OPERATIVE ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID ABUTMENT TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH IT CO-OPERATIVELY ENGAGES WITH SAID ABUTMENT TO GRIP A CAPSULE AS AFORESAID, OPERATING MEANS FOR SWINGING SAID LEVER FROM SAID NORMAL POSITION TO SAID RELEASE POSITION, MEANS OPERABLE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVER FOR ACTUATING SAID CLAW FROM ITS NORMAL POSITION TO ITS OPERATIVE POSITION, CHECK LEVERS HAVING LIPS FOR ENGAGING SAID STACK OF CAPSULES, SAID LIPS BEING LOCATED ABOVE THE SAID SUPPORTING LEDGE OF SAID LEVER WHEN SAID LEVER IS IN A NORMAL POSITION A DISTANCE NO GREATER THAN THE SEPARATION BETWEEN ADJACENT CAPSULES IN SAID STACK, SAID CHECK LEVERS BEING MOVABLE FROM AN INOPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH SAID LIPS ARE OUT OF CONTACT WITH A STACK OF CAPSULES TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH SAID LIPS UNDERLIE AND ARE ADAPTED TO SUPPORT SAID STACK OF CAPSULES, SAID CLAW BEING ADAPTED TO SWING WITH SAID LEVER DURING THE INITIAL PORTION OF TRAVEL OF SAID LEVER WHEREBY TO DRAW THE BOTTOM MOST CAPSULE FROM SAID STACK IN USE, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE ENGAGEMENT OF SAID CLAW WITH SAID ABUTMENT FOR ACTUATING SAID CHECK LEVERS TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION WHEREBY TO CAUSE THE LIPS THEREOF TO UNDERLIE THE BOTTOM OF BUT ONE CAPSULE IN SAID STACK, MEANS OPERABLE AFTER SAID ABUTMENT AND CLAW HAVE INITIALLY WITHDRAWN THE BOTTOM CAPSULE FROM SAID STACK IN THE DOWNWARDLY SWINGING MOVEMENT OF SAID LEVER FOR MOVING SAID CLAW TO ITS NORMAL POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID ABUTMENT, MEANS OPERABLE FOLLOWING DISENGAGEMENT OF SAID CLAW FROM SAID ABUTMENT DURING THE DOWNWARD SWING OF SAID LEVER FOR ACCELERATING THE SPEED OF SWING OF SAID LEVER TO SWING THE LEVER AHEAD OF AND CLEAR OF A FALLING CAPSULE PREVIOUSLY CARRIED THEREBY, MEANS FOR RETURNING SAID LEVER TO ITS NORMAL POSITION AFTER A CAPSULE HAS HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO FALL FROM THE SAID CHUTE, AND MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID CHECK LEVERS TO THEIR NORMAL POSITION AS SAID LEVER ASSUMES ITS NORMAL POSITION. 